Oceania Cruises targets more trade partnerships to support fleet growth

Oceania Cruises is planning to partner with more UK agents and expand its sales team to support its continued capacity growth.

 

The line’s fleet now consists of eight ships following the launch of the 1,200-passenger Allura, which embarked on its maiden sailing from Trieste to Athens today (July 18).

 

In addition, the line has four more ships on order which will form the new Sonata Class, the first of which is the 1,390-passenger Oceania Sonata slated to debut in 2027.

 

Speaking on board Allura on its shakedown cruise, chief commercial officer Nathan Hickman said the line also wants to explore new markets.

 

“We have four ships on order which is significant growth, but Vista and Allura have already represented a 50% increase in capacity since 2022,” he said.

 

“We’ve worked with the same partners for a very long time, and because we’re adding capacity, we have to expand and find new partners and new markets, so that’s the opportunity.”

 

Currently, 75% of the line’s sales come through the trade.

 

Hickman added that some older ships in the fleet would be “repurposed” after the new Sonata Class vessels enter service, but overall there would still be net growth in capacity that “needs to be addressed” through new partnerships and marketing strategies to target new customers.

 

He said the capacity growth would also give Oceania “more flexibility to offer a wider range of sailings”, including shorter cruises of seven days, to attract new-to-brand or younger customers.

 

Senior vice-president for international sales Steve Odell said the line is considering introducing a business development team for the UK market and expanding its presence in Asia.

 

He said: “As we grow, we’ll need more feet on the ground because we’re an agent-driven organisation, and you’ve got to be able to keep good service levels, so we’re going to need more people, and I would see that coming in business development.

 

“The big opportunity is Asia because there is a terrific amount of money there, and it’s quite defined where to go for it. We can also develop some of the other medium-sized markets like Benelux and the Nordics where we’re already quite established.”

 

Odell said the line is also putting its seasons on sale earlier to encourage agents to “make the most of early pricing”, with 2027-28 itineraries going on sale on September 17 meaning the winter is on sale about six months earlier than normal.

 

The upcoming Sonata Class ships will be more than 20,000 tons bigger than those in the Allura Class, each with capacity for 1,400 passengers, but will have more space per passenger, a higher staff to guest ratio and a wider range of suite categories.